Nelson Lowhim's Blog, page 84

#GOT

Well it's over. Eight seasons later and we have an ending. At least it's an ending, I suppose. I did not care for a lot of the show. The firebombing came out of nowhere, and once the TV show left the books, it fell drastically in terms of quality of dialogue, timing, and plotting.  To hats off to GRRM for basically being the talent. 


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Best Coffeeshops in Seattle

Have I made this list yet? I know I did it for my Bronx/Manhattan days. Decent coffee is a must (but matcha will do in a pinch.. what can I say, my wife's got me on the green dragon), but here in Seattle, that's just about everyplace. So decent place to study matters. I'll note if they are fans of doggos (with required doggo treats).


517 E Pike St Ste C Ste C, Seattle, WA 98122

Starbucks, full factory style. Sure it's part of the evil empire and if the idiot who brought it to fame runs for president as a third party and wins, I'll surely never go here. But this here place is great to get work done. No doggos unless they're service animals:
310 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

Cafe Vitta. Great place and open late. Can be crowded. Used to be they played their music so loud there was no getting work done even with my old man ear plugs. But it's a good spot:
1005 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

Capitol Coffee Works is solid. The hours are weak, tho.    907 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

 Little Oddfellows is great because it's in Elliot's Bookstore. Good times. Doggos allowed but can be so crowded that I usually don't bring the pupper.
1521 10th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

Coffee tree. Good quiet place.. Doggos allowed. Hours are kinda weak. 905 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104

Sugar BAkery is a great place. Rarely crowded, but for this neighborhood their hours are great:
1014 Madison St, Seattle, WA 98104

Eastern Cafe. In the great International district of Seattle, this is a good spot to get work done. Their matcha and coffee are great. Doggo approved: 510 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104

Oasis. Matcha and other teas. Open late though, which is great. Doggo approved! 606 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122     


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A shepherd boy

Been a while since I've given you some fiction, so here goes:
Once upon a time there lived a shepherd boy. He had sheep to tend to, but he grew bored. Well, you know the story. He cried wolf. The townspeople came along and there was no wolf. He did it again, and again, they came to no wolf. 
But this isn't some tale about the moral consequences of lying. Because, after all, except for the poor, are there actual consequences for lying? Maybe for the poor. And since most of our traditions are started by silver-tongued cons, why lie about lying?
Because, you see, this boy was smart and each time the townspeople came, he would claim that their presence had chased off the wolf and weren't they great people for just that. And so he played his game and they kept coming. 
One day they got tired, suspecting this was a prank. But the boy assuaged their fears by reminding them of how much good they had done and how they were following in the steps of their ancestors in scaring wolves and actually weren't they proud?
None of them dared speak up, especially given how important it was to be a wolf hunter/scarer-of and so the boy continued his ways until the village fell into disrepair (so often were his calls of wolf) and the village fell into penury and eventually died off. 
the end
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I know how you like the art, johnny boy.

So I thought you'd like to check out some of my work over at Talking Writing (I haven't yet turned them into prints/other forms of physical art, for those who want that, stay tuned). Basically they have a couple of my pics but mainly my ugly mug is plastered over their twitter banner and newest issue. A different kind of selfie, of course, but there you have it. Enjoy it for now, I suppose. 

I gave up being on Instagram, deleted my account, but have now started a new one where my art is being displayed. It's supposed to be a link to my prints, but it's been limited as I'm not sure I get that website. Same goes for Twitter and Facebook. No readers gained there. Reddit only works when I try to gain listeners to my audible books, but that's about it. 
To say I've become unmoored is to highlight an obvious cliche. Some of you might say, hasn't it always been thus for you? Well, yeah, but I was hoping to find a better system to tell a story and, unfortunately, I have not found it. 
From the art above (and some of those shorts I've sent out) you can see that I'm experimenting  with visuals and texts and collages and what have you. All trying to tell a story. With the visuals, you gain a more immediate access to the viewer's mind.
witness the use of memes in our culture, witness too, the same photo/drawing used over and over to completely different effect, with the text alone changing.
Such is the idea behind what I'm creating, but where to do this best?
I noted that I had tried Instagram as it seemed a perfect visual medium and yet there was no place for a visual conversation. Of course, I might simply be lacking in a certain kind of imagination (or morality, as the fake news example of fake stories with real photos sold as real stories showed me) as poets simply posted their poems directly as pictures and went from there to making it. 
Still, perhaps that's a way to tell a story that I'm missing. Do you know of anything like that? Can you think beyond how things are set up now? 
We'll see. I will try to add things here, but we'll see, of course. If you have any thoughts, add them below.

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On analysis and losing the thread.

I shared a Hezbollah video and also pointed you towards an article by Ben Taub (who, in my estimation seems to be doing some brilliant work on edge of empire/climate change reactions/attempted genocides). Reason was, even amongst the self-purported rebels against empire (like Hezbollah, not to take away their function in that region) the analysis seems to be just all right at best. 

Genuine question.
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good site you should visit

Whatever you think about Hezbollah,  you should consider "silencing it" something akin to the censorship it is. It pays to listen to the likes of Nasrallah. So here's some of that daily dose for you. Certainly one could point out weaknesses to that analysis. But it's still worth listening (or read the transcript).




The problem is going to be worldwide and where the edges of empire are the most brutal, the people will need something to protect themselves. See the Congo where ISIS has finally come (surprised something similar didn't pop up sooner). See the Sahel. What are we providing people? Nothing but terrorism or a drone. The wretched of the world will speak. I suppose, given the Nazis who live amongst us here in the West, we'll just kill millions then billions and have our own Lebensraum (for example, in the Sahel there are tar sands and other positives to be gained from wiping out people's resistance).

One hopes we'll be better than Nazi Germany but we're fast going down the route where that will be a hard call.


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Do you even GOT? [Spoilers]

btw, if you need some shwag, please sign up for the email list. Another email will be going out soon giving a code you can use for art prints. Any how, I'll be working on a few digital shorts that won't be the normal thing you're used to from me. Well, something more interactive than the normal stories I've been putting out (to include the Iraqi Specters of War bit). 

So I've been watching the GOT series and been up to date with all the latest (not hard to believe given that this is the last season) gossip. Good show, this one. I would say there are some levels of disappointment given how this story about the night walkers, this existential threat, is now over and it just seems like there could have been more to it. 
But I'm not here to nit pick on what was not perfect. I've enjoyed this season quite a bit and will miss the damn show. You?
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Avengers

If any of you know me, you'll know I have old-man hate for the entire Marvel movie enterprise. Well, most of it at least. Guardians of the Galaxy have proven to be the only bit of the series I liked. That's because it was well aware of what it was. (Well, Black Panther was solid, but seemed just part of the regressive Marvel world I never cared for. For example, I kinda liked the villain in that one).

Of course, it isn't lost on me that Thanos, in the far reaches of the internets (and amongst the youth, I suppose) was considered the epitome of evil (and was meant that way). Meanwhile no one discusses their own footprint in this world. 
Well, that being said, I might end up watching the damn sequel... Perhaps I'm wrong to? Because the ending for the previous one was perfect. You tell me.
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Lots of New Fiction Out

So the route I've been taking lately is getting published at other places, trying to see if that changes some variables of  my own (of me as a writer). So quite a few pieces were published recently. Here's a flash fiction piece about a journal found in Iraq. It's a familiar theme for many of you who read me, but done in a different style.



Hope this day is going well for everyone.


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Tax Day Fiction!

I hope you enjoy this little tax day fiction thanks to the folks over at Queen Mob Teahouse.
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